Tishman, BlackRock Will Give Up Apartment Complexes

New York, NY —

The financially troubled owners of the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village say they are turning the Manhattan apartment complexes over to their creditors.

The buildings are owned by a joint venture led by Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, which purchased the Manhattan complexes for a record-setting $5.4 billion in 2006.

City Council member -- and long-time StuyTown tenant -- Daniel Garodnick says his neighbors have lots of concerns about the next steps at the site.

"They're concerned about adequate maintenance to ensure that if Tishman Speyer is on their way out, that there is a new manager that is coming in that is experienced, organized, capable, and prepared to address the needs of a complicated property like this," Garodnick says.

Garodnick says he plans to work to make sure that a solution is reached that preserves the history of the apartment complexes as a home for middle income New Yorkers.

For more on this story, listen to a discussion with Councilman Garodnick and WNYC's Richard Hake here.

The Brian Lehrer Show talks to Charles Bagli, a reporter for the New York Times, and Benjamin Dulchin, deputy director for the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, about what's next for the housing development and the current tenants.